| Author | Message | ||
     Scottorious |
So I live in an apartment with 2 other guys, we each have an individual lease with the landlord. The lease is for our rent alone so all of the utilities are on us to set up and pay. I made the mistake of putting my name on all of the utility bills and my roommates paying me back. That would work well except one of my roommates is neglecting to pay his bills and has racked up a tab for 7 months of his utilities. Anybody have advice on how i can get the money. I am worried that when our lease ends he will just move out and get out of a whole year of utility payments. | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
Judge Judy | ||
| Froggy |
I was in a similar boat a few years back, cable TV/internet bill was in my name. After about 2 and half months of "I'll get you the money", I was able to undo the cable coneciton to his room, and being the super nerd I had full control of the internet too. I don't think that will work for power/gas/water though, unless you somehow have access to the breaker boxes and controls. | ||
| Drkside79 |
Well you could do small claims court but it is often not worth it. I would try being nice Then being persistent then being nasty Then telling all his friends what a useless POS he is Then write it off as lesson learned. | ||
| Court |
No way this little agreement between you guys made it into writing . . . even on a bar napkin . . is there? | ||
| Panhead_dan |
Years ago I had a similar setup. The difference was that the bills were estimated and paid in advance each month. Any difference in the amount was adjusted next month. No pay = leave now. All parties enforced it because if one party didn't pay, everyones bill increased to cover it. It was a good setup and I had an active list of folks who were waiting to move in as a room opened. | ||
| Sayitaintso |
Thats a bad situation and the longer it goes on the harder its going to be for him to cover what he owes. It sounds like its time for one of those not so fun "sit-downs" | ||
| Xdigitalx |
you have to talk about it and make a realistic budget for him, or you will go nuts wondering. Also talk to your landlord. If the roomate ignores you, put reminder notes in his coffee cups, inside the electric dryer door, under the toilet seat lid etc. etc. saying something slick, saying he is deadbeat or needs to pay or to keep the tension low something not too harsh. | ||
| Scottorious |
thats a pretty interesting thought...we moved in as friends and Id like to keep that intact but it seems I am just a fool if I keep letting it slide. | ||
| Drkside79 |
I can walk you through how to block his computers mac id if you want. The same can be done for any device talking to your router. | ||
| Scottorious |
Sadly no nothing was written. I cant kick him out as the landlord is getting the money so as long as he pays rent he can mooch off me. I am trying to keep the tension low for sure but as the bills add up its getting more annoying. We moved into the apartment in august and he paid 22.04 on his first bill and has since paid nothing. My roommate talked to him and he still claims he is going to pay but no amount of talking too him really forces him to pay. I set up a little spreadsheet thing for him so he can just knock a little off at a time but he hasnt even made a small payment. Spring is near so the gas might I may turn off the gas, I'll have to suffer as well but at least I wont be throwing money into a hole. Same thing with the internet. Froggy how can I take total control of it? | ||
| Scottorious |
Yah id like to know how to block his mac...do i actually have to have access to his computer to know his mac address though? | ||
| Xdigitalx |
take all the lightbulbs out of his room, put childproof plugs in the outlets. | ||
| Scottorious |
I can put a lock on our breaker box and turn off power to non essential rooms as i choose i suppose. | ||
| Froggy |
It depends on your router, but it should have a listing of every machine connected to it, including the IP address and MAC address. You would then have to enable MAC filtering, and set it to either not allow his MAC, or only authorize everyone else's MAC. If the connection is wired instead of wireless, you can just unplug the network cables going to his room. | ||
| Drkside79 |
Authorizing specific mac is probably more effective it will allow only yours and who you specify to gain access. If you have trouble with the MAC filter you could always go the most basic route and change the routers SSID (WIRELESS NAME) and encrypt it with the password payyourbills. However that won't work if he is hardwired or one of your allowed users spills the beans. If you have a Linksys router you can access its controls by typing 192.168.1.1 into your browser leave the user name blank and your password is admin. (that is the default) (Message edited by drkside79 on February 25, 2011) | ||
| Scottorious |
yah i found the settings that allows me to control access via mac address. Kind of sucks that amount of work it will take to add each one of my friends when they come over and want to access the internet..but If it motivates him to pay his bills then I can take it down. Only problem is that there are a few networks in the area that can be mooched off of that I am sure he will just use those. | ||
| Jumbo_petite |
lock the kitchen and bathrooms and as said earlier kill th power to his room and share the key with the room mate who pays. | ||
| Kyrocket |
Butter the floor, he'll get the hint. | ||
| Xl1200r |
take all the lightbulbs out of his room, put childproof plugs in the outlets I'd go one step further and just turn off your utilities and make do until he puts them in HIS name. If he doesn't move out. What will cost you more, another 5 months of covering his share or the fee to break your lease? | ||
| Redefine420 |
I also had a similar problem years ago. After 3 months of paying the utilities on my own I turned off the power and water and we had a battle to see who could go the longest without them, I won. 6 weeks without power and water and he caved. I worked a lot and stayed with a girlfriend, so I kind of cheated. He had to use his unemployment checks to pay the bills instead of buying weed, imagine the inconvenience. I still remember him wrapped in blankets hitting his bong by candlelight | ||
| No_rice |
i was going to say, if you have a different place to stay(even for awhile), shut everything down and walk out. talk it over with the good roomate. hell, split one of those rentable hotel rooms for a bit if you dont have a place to go for awhile. if the utilities are off you'll have freed up some income... | ||
| Fast1075 |
I'd just ask the boy how much a asswhoopin' is worth. | ||
| Scottorious |
good thoughts...i'll have to look at what it would cost to break the lease..I imagine its less than 12 months of utilities for sure. Turning off the gas so his multiple showers a day would be freezing plus blocking him from the internet and taking my TV to my room as well as not having a light in his room would surely motivate him a little. | ||
| Cowboy |
I am with fast1075--It is amazing what can be done with agood old red neck ass whop. | ||
| 86129squids |
OK, I'm crying/laughing after that buttered floor vid... Notify him that until he starts paying back regularly and on time, along with the current bills, when the calendar date passes due dates he should expect something bad to happen. Then, you and the remaining roommate should research highly annoying but benign/non-lethal pranks and have yourself some enjoyment. For starters, find a local bait shop or pet store that sells crickets, buy a large quantity, set them free inside his car. Find a large roll of industrial kitchen plastic wrap, then you and the other roommate can wrap his car completely shut. A couple of cans of sardines dumped on the motor of his car, maybe the heat/AC plumbing would be effective too. A little thought and research into this might be great fun- you deserve at least that much if you're not getting any money... | ||
| Sifo |
we moved in as friends and Id like to keep that intact but it seems I am just a fool if I keep letting it slide. My friends would never do that to me. People who do that are not friends. An exception would be if they were having serious financial trouble and talking to you about the situation. You made no mention of anything like that, so... | ||
| Reepicheep |
Every time something like this happened to me, I ended up paying the bill (no matter what I tried). The only difference was how much time and emotional energy I wasted to get to that same place. People without integrity won't suddenly get better. Look at this as a very inexpensive (relatively) life lesson. Remember it clearly when you: 1) Seek a spouse to marry. 2) Enter into a contract. 3) Look at a job. 4) Buy a house or car. 5) Choose your friends. 6) Invest your blood and fortune. If you pay the bill, it could be the best money you ever spent. It's kind of par for the course with room mates. Of the 4 or 5 different setups I had back when I was young, all but 1 stiffed me, and I was always the one in the apartment alone at 2 am painting and cleaning after we moved out so we didn't loose our deposit. | ||
| Thumper74 |
Large pallet wrap works well as it shrinks some in the summer sun... | ||
| Azxb9r |
I agree with Reepicheep on this. Sometimes it is best to just cut your losses and try to learn from the experience. I have had several roommates in the past, some started as friends and ended otherwise. Anyone that would stiff you with a bill like that is not a very good friend, and you are better off without them. If he continues to avoid paying his bill, I would tell him he is gone when his lease runs out and don't ask for any more favors. |
